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Terrified staff called police to Hardwicke Circus petrol station over fears that a man was going to blow it up.

The Shell station

Staff dialled 999 shortly before 9pm yesterday to report a man “running around the forecourt of the Shell garage in Carlisle with a lit lighter and cigarette”.

As he ran, he was pulling out fuel nozzles from their pumps. The woman working in the shop called the police, telling officers she was frightened he was going to “blow the garage up”. A police sergeant in the area raced to the scene, where he used his Pava spray to immobilise the man.

A spokesman for the garage said the member of staff was unharmed in the incident.

He added he was bemused by the reaction of the general public.

“The public did nothing,” he said, “they just carried on. There were three men in the door who stood and watched.

“Obviously people don’t have to do anything, but they all watched the police struggle.”

The spokesman said the man posed “a real risk” to safety. “He had a lit cigarette and a lighter in his hand.

“He was pulling out the nozzles. It was a real danger.”

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: “A 28-year-old man from Harraby was arrested on suspicion of making threats to commit criminal damage.

“He was initially taken to a police station, but was later taken to the Cumberland Infirmary, in Carlisle, after he showed signs of being unwell.”

The man remained in custody this morning, and is expected to undergo health tests later today.